Tag Archives: Debt

As we wind down the year, it’s time to reflect back on 2018. Whatever your concerns, questions, or issues may have been, the answers could be here – if we’re lucky. Because this is the year of YOU. Your well-being. How you manage stress, respond to rotten clients, or cope with law school debt.

Start the process of tackling student loan debt by checking out the resources published by the Oregon New Lawyer Division. All three Oregon law schools offer a Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP) for their recent graduates. If you attended law school out-of-state, check with your law school to see if they offer their own LRAP. You may also be eligible for the Oregon State Bar’s LRAP program.

Credit card debt

If you are struggling to chip away at your credit card debt, consider whether a balance transfer is right for you. In theory, a balance transfer credit card allows you swap out your high-rate card for a cheaper card, paying off your original balance. Nerdwallet recently published a list of the best balance transfer cards for 2018. Terms vary widely, so do your homework. But all in all, the Nerdwallet list seems to include some good deals:

Speaking of budgets, have one. Each month, compare your actual income and expenses to the amounts you projected. If you see yourself going astray, make a mid-year course correction.

Be ready to make tough decisions and a few sacrifices to cut back on spending.

Managing the stress

Money management isn’t easy, and being in debt is stressful. But you are not alone. If you don’t know where to start, reach out to the attorney counselors at the Oregon Attorney Assistance Program (OAAP). They are supportive and can point you in the right direction. Help is free and confidential: 503-226-1057 or toll-free in Oregon 800-321-6227.

On October 14, presenters Christine Coers-Mitchell and Johnston Mitchell of Coers Mitchell Law LLC presented Bankruptcy for the Non-Bankruptcy Lawyer. Topics included decoding “bankruptcy talk,” what to do if a bankruptcy filing occurs during litigation, how to settle a bankruptcy claim, how to handle divorce-related bankruptcy issues, strategies for creating “bankruptcy proof” agreements and transfers, and bankruptcy issues involving real property.

You may consider yourself a business lawyer, employment law practitioner, corporate lawyer, commercial law specialist, or debtor/creditor/collections expert. If your clients process writs of garnishment, read up!

Garnishments represent an area of potential liability for several reasons: employee or account holder misidentification, honoring a writ that has expired, or failure to include identifying information with the payment. The Professional Liability Fund has witnessed all three errors.

Believe it or not businesses who are garnishees frequently issue payments with blank check stubs and no attached documentation. While privacy or identity theft concerns may impose limitations on the amount of identifying information provided, it is crucial that the garnishor be able to identify the debtor and match payments received to the proper account. Otherwise your client’s check is useless. Furthermore, the identifying information cannot be cryptic. For example, a partial home address for the debtor with no other information (debtor’s name, account number, TIN, circuit court case number).

This is not just an issue for the garnishors who are trying to process payments. Your garnishee clients need to maintain a proper audit trail. Check stubs and related accounting entries should carefully detail the identity of the debtor and any other information needed to substantiate funds withheld.

For those who are skeptical, this problem is rampant. And it isn’t an issue limited to small Mom and Pop businesses who don’t know how to properly respond to garnishments. Large banks and employers regularly send off checks to garnishors with little or no identifying information that can be linked to a debtor. Please advise your clients to keep proper records and include sufficient information to identify the account holder or employee whose funds are being garnished.

A side note for those of you who are garnishors or who represent garnishors: Many lawyers who handle collections send calculation sheets to their garnishees. Your calculation sheets should contain appropriate identifying information. Instruct garnishees to return the calculation sheets with their payment and track garnishee names in your collection system to aid in processing and matching payments.

With an economy stuck in neutral, student loan debt continues to weigh down recent law school graduates. Some are working, but can’t afford to pay rent, buy groceries, and make student loan payments. Others are struggling to get a solo practice off the ground. Meanwhile, student loan collectors call relentlessly – in some cases daily. Where is the relief?